Funeral Arrangements at St Mary-on-the-Quay

If you need to arrange a funeral and would like it to be held at St Mary-on-the-Quay, the first thing to do is to contact an undertaker.  He or she will then help you with all the practical arrangements.
 
You will need to tell him that you would like the funeral at St. Mary-on-the-Quay and then discuss suitable times and dates. The undertaker should then telephone the church to find out if the church and priest are available on the day and time requested. The undertaker should confirm these arrangements in writing.
 
They should also find out whether it is a burial or cremation and where these will take place (this should be in the letter of confirmation). The undertaker should be told that transport will be required to take the priest to the cemetery/crematorium and return to the presbytery. Finally, the church should find out whether the body is to be received few hours before the funeral Mass (this also should be in the letter of confirmation. As circumstances in the city centre have changed rapidly in the last few years, and due to the health and safety reasons, receiving of the body in the evening before the funeral is no longer held) 
 
The celebrant needs to meet the family or ask someone to come to the Church to discuss the arrangements. He needs to know whether or not the members of the family would like to take an active part. This could mean providing readers for the readings and the bidding prayers, doing the offertory procession, or serving as Eucharistic ministers. He should ask whether they would like to choose the readings, and assist with this as appropriate. Will anyone be saying a few words at the end of Mass about the person who has died? Would they like hymns and, if so, have they any particular choices?
 
(Hymns may be sung at the beginning of the Mass, at the Offertory, at Communion and finally as the coffin is taken from the church. Some people like to have “The Lord’s my Shepherd” after the first reading. There is absolutely no requirement to have all or any of the hymns: it is entirely up to the mourners.)
 
Organist: St Mary’s does not normally have an organist available for funerals but it is possible that we can find one. If not, the undertaker will have a list of organists in the area.
 
Parking is difficult outside the church but the undertaker should be aware of this. For the mourners there is some street parking nearby, and a multi-storey car park in Trenchard Street.
 
Additional information: The local Registrar must be notified within five days of death; the informant must obtain from the doctor a certificate of the cause of death and give this to the Registrar when the death is notified. Written notice of death accompanied by the doctor’s certificate, may be sent to the Registrar within five days of the death; within fourteen days of the death, notification in person must be given to the registrar.